Pipe-cleaning machine



5 Shgets-Sheet i INVENTOR. Warren A. Kramer ATTOk/VEY w. A. KRANER PIPE CLEANING MACHINE Feb. 3, 1949.

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

BY K.

ATTozA/EY Filed June 2, 1947 Feb. 8, 1949. w. A. KRANER 2,460,989

PIPE CLEANING MACHINE Filed June 2, 1947 v 5 sh ets-sheets Y ax (r lOb . v JNVENTOR. Warren H, Kramer ATTQRNEV Feb. 8, 1949. W, A. KRAME 2,490,989

PIPE CLEANING MACHINE Filed June 2, 1947 V 5 Sheets-Shea 4 INVENTOR. Warren H. Kramer- [U H' L Feb. 8, 1949. w. A. KBANER 2,460,989

PIPE CLEANING MACHINE Filed June 2, 1947 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 7 Fll5 '7 mvs NTO a Mvren 4. A raner ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 8, 1949 2360,93?? .BIPECLEANING:MAGHINE \VarrenA'. .Kraner;.San Francisco; calif assignor' to General' Paint' Corporation; *S'aw Francisco,-

Galifi-acorporation oenevaaa Application JuneZ, 1947,.SeriaLNo. 15L816 ilWGfaiins.

This invention relates generally toma'chines used for the cleaningofmetalpipe. vSuchrnachines finduseful application for the condition.- ing or. cleaning of both new and 01d pipe, where it is desired to remove mill scale, rust or portions ofgpreviouslyapplied' coating material;

Machines of theabove character have been availablefin thepastbut'have been subjecttovarious disadvantages. Generally such machines are relatively. complicated, expensiveandsomewhat difficult for use-by. average operators. In

addition the mechanisms. used ."for cleaning the surface of" the pipe'have frequently been either ineffective for proper cleaning or too severe. Grit blastinghas been found reasonably effective. for such cleaning operations but no pipe cleaning machine has been. produced which satisfactorily incorporates.gritblasting device's.

It'is an object of theinvention to provide: successful pipe cleaningrnaehine which utilizes grit blasting devices and whichis capable of continuous operationover asubstantial 'lengthof pipe.

A further obj ect of the. invention. is to provide a pipe cleaning machine having .wide adaptability and fiexibility,.and whichcanbe. used for .aflwide variety of services.

Additional objects oi; the invention .willappear from the following. description. in. which. the preferred embodiment haslbeen .set forth in. detail in conjunction.withitheaccompanying drawing.vv

Referring to the drawing: 'Figure 1 is a side elevational view in section illustratinga machine incorporating: the present invention.

Figure 2 is across-sectionalviewtaken along the line 212 .otFigure- 11 Figure 3' isadetail illustrating awsuitablear. rangement of supporting rollers upon the. pipe to be cleaned.

Figure 4 is an end view. looking toward the. leftndlof Eigutealt.

Figures. is anend. view, of the machine. looking 'towardlthe right hand end of Figure 1 r 1 Figure.- 6.. is. a side. elevational- VlEAV': in. section illustrating-another embodiment of'the. invention Figure .7 is a..,crss-sectiona1 detailofthe aim bodir'nent.illustrateddn Figured Figure 8..is-a.cross-sectiona1detailshowing the I operatinghead.oftheblastingunits.

Figure 9. .is an enlarged cross-Sectionals view: of

the blasting unit. p

The machine illustrated in Figures-1 to 5:of:the

drawing consists-generally of acircularly contoured housing ll!.formed inthisinstance oftwo sections 10a, l'llbs. These sectionsihave ahingec? connection H wherebythey, can'be...swung,.apar.t to. p,ermit.remova1 or application with respect to pipe 12;. Each. section of thefliofusing' includes.

the circularlycontouredperipheral wall l5; and theendwallslti ll. Circular openings as, H in the endwalls accommodate the pipe i2, and the' spaces'aboufithepipe are closed by the an nula'rcurtains'1'8, I 9 which can be formed of suitablefiexibie material, such as resilient sheet rubber; V I j Suitable"means are provided for tracking'thc honsing'uponthepipe whereby the housing can be" rotated abontth'e 'pip'e'and simultaneously. ad"- vanced'longitudinally. For this purpose two sets of rollers are provided. one set being carried by wallitiand the other by wall l4. Rollers2| constitutingthefirst"set are suitably. journaledf to the brackets 22,.which in turn are bolted'tothe mountinggpads 23. These pads in'turn are bolted tothdbrackets 24which' are. ad'justably secured tothe adjacent. end wall It by belts or screws 26, A pair of. driving motors 2111,2117 are provided, and these motorsare. suitably carried by mounting brackets 28, attached tothe adjacent ends walls l3. Suitable driving. belts or chains 19a, 29b'connect the motors 21a, 21b. to adjacent pairs of rollers .2! as shown in Figure 4Q Preferably the motors 21a, 2112' are provided witha suitable reduction gearing to. provides. proper speed ofdrive. 'In a typical instancethe drive can be such. that the rate of rotationof the'housing Ill can be ofthe order 01*.20 R.

The other set of rollersv carried by the end walls. I! are similar; to the rollerspreviously described. 'Ihus rollers 3!. are carried by pads 32 which'inturn are attached to the supporting brackts33. All of the rollers can be faced'with resilient rubber to:enable'frictionalcontact with the-pip 1 practice the. rollers described are set at a smallangle-with respect to the longitudinal aids .illustratedlin FigureB and ina typical instance.

.theangleof the axis of the rollers-withrespect tothe-longitudinal axis of the-pipe canbe of ;the order of.5 q Each housing section carries a grit blasting unit ,36a ,"b. The units shown in Figures l to Bare. of atype available on the market utilizing a spinningwheel into which gritscan befed and whichv stores and dischargesthegrits in the form of a fan-shapedspray. or blast. One unit of thistype islmownby the trade as The PangbornVaneless Rotoblast-Wheel and is sold by Pangbern- C0rporation. Such a unit includesthe wheel. 3.1 which is. shown applied directly; to the shaftlofrthe electric motor 38. The interior-pf the. wheel isthollow and the rim 394s provided with .an...inclined or conical shaped inner. race 34]; Thejfront face .of. the wheelie providedvdth an. outer. rim-(425.01. ledge. over. which grits. pass feed tube 44 leads from the hopper 46 through the interior of the wheel, through the annular baflling 41. A second feed tube 44a leads from the interior of the wheel to the hQDPer 46a, located inwardly from the outer periphery of the housing.

The mounting for the motor 38 is preferably constructed in such a manner that the motor is protected from the interior of the housing. Thus the motor is attached to plate 49, which in conjunction with the walls 5! interposed between the motor and the wheel 31, serves to protect the motor from the interior of the housing. In the operation of such a centrifugal blasting machine grits are fed down through tubes 44 and 44a from hoppers 46 and 46a and a substantial quantity of grits from a bed upon the inner inclined wheel wall 4|. Grits are continuously removed from this bed by the plow wheel 43, thus causing a fan shaped discharge blast 52. The arrangement is such that this blast is directed upon the exterior of the pipe at an angle selected to secure optimum cleaning.

In the operation of my machine it is necessary to provide means for continually removing smaller dust particles comprising rust orlike corrosion, particles of previously applied coating material, or like fragments which are .removed from the pipe and intermingle with the grits. For this purpose centrifugal blowers 53 are shown mounted upon the end walls i4, and can be driven by suitable motors 54. The intake openings 56 to theblowers 53 are provided with suitable screening means (not shown) to avoid entrance of grits. Blowers 53 operate continuously to remove the smaller fragments from the interior of the housing as the machine operates.

The necessary electrical connections to the various motors of the machine lead to a suitable slip ring assembly (not shown) and thus to a source of current supply.

Operation of the machine described above is as follows: The housing is applied to a pipe to in the housing. Ordinary steel grits can be used such as are commonly employed for impact cleaning operations. All of the motors are now placed in operation. As the housing revolves about the pipe it is passed longitudinally along the pipe at a predetermined rate. During each revolution of the housing grits are received in the hoppers 46 and 46a of each blasting unit, and the grits provided'in this manner serve to replenish the charge of grits in each wheel. Thus assuming rotation in the direction indicated by arrows in Figure 2, the supply of grits 51 accu is mulated in the lower part of the housing is filling the adjacent hopper 460., while the hopper 46 of the uppermost blasting unit is discharging its supply of grits. The lowermost hopper 460.

is receiving some of the grits fallin from the 4 possible interruptions in the supply of grits from the hoppers.

In general my machine is capable of effective cleaning action to the extent necessary to re move mill scale from new pipe, or rust or like corrosion or fragments of coating previously applied. Undue removal of metal or like injury to the pipe can be avoided. No undue skill is required in the operation of the machine and when once placed in operation it can operate continuously over an extended length of pipe. Ordinary couplings such as are used on pipe sections can be passed Without diificulty, and thus the device is well adapted for field conditions where it is frequently desirable to clean raised lengths of pipe without disconnecting the same.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 6 to 9 inclusive employs a different type of blasting unit. Each of the mountings 6| (Figure 7) iorthe motor 38 of the associated blasting unit has an opening 52 of sufficient size to pass the blasting head. The motor itself is secured to an L-shaped mounting bracket 63'. which when attached by bolts to the mounting 6|, completely covers the opening 62. Attached to the mounting bracket 63 there is a guard 64 which is flared toward an inwardly faced open side 66 (Figure 6). A rotor 61 is mounted upon the shaft of the motor 38, and consists of inner and outer annular assemblies 58 and .10 which are fixed to the rotorshaft. The inner assembly 68 includes the spaced discs 68a, 68b and the circumferentially spaced vanes"69. The outer assembly includes the spaced discs 19a, iiib and the spaced vanes 7i. Interposed between the two assemblies 68 and 10 there is a relatively stationary cylindrical shaped discharge control member 72. This member has an opening E3 in one side of the same through which grits may pass.

The inner assembly 58 of the rotor also carries a series of circumferentially spaced arcuate bars or plates 14 which are in close proximity with the inner periphery of member 72. Slots 7% are provided between the plates 14, and it will be noted that these slots are formed between opposed edges of the plates'which are of different radial thickness, and that the slots have decided outward divergence to avoid clogging or blocking.

' In operation of the machine, grits are recurrently supplied to the space 19 within the rotor. Thus a pair of spouts 8i and .82 are provided which discharge grits into the space 19, and which in turn lead from the hoppers 83 and 84. Both the spouts and the hoppers are carried by plate 86 which is demountably attached to a flange carried by member 12. This hangs in turn is removably attached to the housing wall 87.

Operation of the embodiment illustrated in Figures 6 to 9 inclusive is as follows: During rotation of the housing l0 the hoppers 83 and 84 are recurrently filled with grits, and such grits are recurrently supplied to the inner rotorspace '19. The grits are thrown outwardly and given considerable rotary movementby the action of the vanes 69. Likewise these vanes serve to effect circumferential distribution of the grits. As the grits strike the plates 14 theref'is a temporary storage or retention while at the same time grits are fed outwardly through the slots 16, and through the opening 13, to be impelled by the vanes H to discharge the same'upon the pipe as illustrated inFigures 6 and 7.

.During certain intervals of the rotation of the housing ID, no grits may be supplied to the space 19 through the spouts 8| and 82. For such intervals there is sufficient storage of grits upon the inner races of the plates 14 to provide for continued feeding of grits to the vanes H, so that the blasting action continues without interruption.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my cQ-pending application Serial No. 664,646, filed April 24, 1946 and now abandoned.

I claim:

1. In a pipe cleaning machine, a housing adapted to surround a pipe to be cleaned, a grit blasting unit carried by said housing and adapted to discharge grits upon the-sides of the pipe, means for rotating the housing about the pipe and for simultaneously advancing the same longitudinally about the pipe, and means for supplying grits to said unit.

2. In a pipe cleaning machine, a housing adapted to generally surround the pipe to be cleaned, a grit blasting unit carried within the housing and adapted to discharge grits upon the surface of the pipe, the housing being adapted to contain a quantity of grits for supplying grits to said unit, and means for rotating said housing about the pipe and for simultaneously advancing the same longitudinally of the pipe.

3. In a pipe cleaning machine, a housing adapted to surround a pipe to be cleaned, said housing serving to contain a quantity of grits, at least one grit blasting unit carried by said housing, said unit including a rotary blasting wheel for centrifugal discharge of grits upon the pipe and hopper means for supplying grits to the wheel, said hopper means being open to the in terior of the housing, and means for rotating the housing about the pipe and for simultaneously advancing the same longitudinally of the pipe..

4. In a pipe cleaning machine, an annular hollow housing formed in sections and adapted to be assembled about a pipe to be 5. A pipe cleaning machine as in claim 'l'in which the hopper means comprises two hoppers for each blasting unit, one of said hoppers being opened to the interior of the housing in a region near the outer periphery of the same, and the other hopper being open to the interior of the housing in a region spaced inwardly from th outer periphery.

6. In a pipe cleaning machine, a housing adapted to generally'surround and to be rotated about the pipe to be cleaned, means for rotating said housing about such pipe, said housing serving to contain a quantity of grits, a grit blasting unit carried by the housing and rotatable with the same, said unit including a rotary blasting wheel for centrifugal discharge of grits upon the pipe, and hopper means within the housing for supplying grits to a space provided within the blasting wheel, said wheel including means for storing a substantial quantity of grits within the same whereby the wheel provides a substantially continuous blast of grits irrespective of temporary interruption in the supply of grits to said space.

7. In a pipe cleaning machine, a housing adapted to generally surround the pipe to be cleaned, said housing serving to contain a quantity of grits, a grit blasting unit carried by the housing, said unit including a rotary blasting wheel for centrifugal discharge of grits upon the pipe, and hopper means for supplying grits to a space provided within the wheel, said wheel including an inner set of distributing vanes surrounding said space, a set of circumferentially spaced plates surrounding the distributing vanes, and a set of impeller vanes surrounding said plates, said plates serving to provide for a storage of grits upon the inner faces of the same.

8. In a pipe cleaning machine, a housing adapted to generally surround the pjipefto be cleaned, said housing serving to contain a quantity of grits, a grit blasting unit carried by the housing, said unit including a rotary blasting wheel for centrifugal discharge of grits upon the pipe, and hopper means for supplyinggrits to a space provided within the wheel, said wheel including an inner set of distributing vanes surrounding said space, a set of circumferentially spaced plates surrounding the distributingjvanes and spaced radially from the same, a set of impeller vanes surrounding said plates and "spaced radially from the latter, and a relatively stationary annular discharge control member interposed between the last named means and said plates, said member having an opening ;in the same for discharge of grits to the impeller vanes.

9. In a pipe cleaning machine, a housing adapted to generally surround the pipe},to be cleaned, said housing serving to contain a'quantity of grits, a grit blasting unit carriedby the housing, said unit including a rotary blasting wheel for centrifugal discharge of gritsupon the pipe, and hopper means for supplying grits to a space provided within the wheel, said hopper means including at least two hoppers and; spouts leading from the same into said space, onegof said hoppers being arranged to receive grits from a zone near the outer periphery of the housing, and the other hopper being arranged to jreceive grits from a zone nearer to the center of rotation of the housing. v

10. In a machine of the character described, a grit blasting unit comprising a wheel adapted to be rotated, said wheel having an inner space adapted to receive grits, a set of annularly disposed vanes carried by the wheel and surrounding said space, said vanes serving to effect distribution of grits discharged through the same, a set of circumferentially spaced plates surround ign said vanes and spaced radially from the same,

a set of impeller vanes carried by the wheel and surrounding said plates, and a relatively stationary annular discharge control member fdisposed between said plates and said impeller vanes, said member having an opening for discharge of grits to the impeller vanes.

WARREN A. KRANER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,131,770 Tumbull Oct. 1938 

